Deb Arvidson, New Hampshire: On the night of January 13, 1896, my ancestor Arthur Wellesley Nunan was a cook on the Fortuna, a small fishing schooner out of Boston. In the galley below deck, Arthur was tending the cookstove while other men played cards. On the other side of the boat, nine men were asleep in bunks. The steamer Barnstable suddenly rammed the Fortuna through the middle, destroying the staircase. The nine men in bunks were sealed off and ultimately perished. Arthur shouted for the men in the galley to go up through the provisions chute. They all got to the deck and climbed on the rigging of the Barnstable just as the schooner sank. Arthur had a severely injured shoulder and broken ribs. Of the fourteen men who survived, only two had been on deck before the crash so Arthur saved eleven men.

Doug Graham, Sunapee, New Hampshire: On September 13, 1874, Albert Gero, my great-granduncle, who was eight, was rafting on a pond with one of his siblings at the Boynton Mill in Holland, Vermont. Then, Albert accidentally fell into the water. His father, Henry Gero, my great-great-grandfather, saw Albert struggling and went into the water to save him. While Henry was holding Albert above the water to be rescued by others, Henry’s boots became stuck in the mud and drew him in deeper. Although Albert was saved, Henry was unable to free himself and drowned. He was 47.

Kay Pelletier, Andover, Massachusetts: In July 1958, my parents were awakened in their home in Andover by the light from a fire in a neighbor’s barn. As my mother called the fire department, my dad drove as close to the property as he could. The owner was trying to rescue his twenty-two cows from the flames. My father pulled him from the barn just before it collapsed.

Cyndy Newell, Townshend, Vermont: On February 12, 1915, near East Dover, Vermont, men had come to load sawdust from a huge pile. The pile collapsed and buried six people. Two were covered up to their necks and the other four were completely buried. The man closest to the edge of the pile dug himself out and helped free a second man. Those two uncovered the other four, including my grandfather Leonard Newell of West Wardsboro, Vermont, who was “alive but nearly overcome.” The last man found, who was only 16, did not survive.

Sue Strong Lewis, Lexington, Virginia: In September 1933, my grandfather Albert Edwin Strong and three friends were on a road trip from Santa Cruz to an Elks convention in Long Beach, California. The driver of the car had his arm resting on the open window. While passing a truck, he swerved to miss oncoming traffic, hit a bridge abutment, and had his arm nearly torn off. Grandpa Al is credited with saving his friend’s life. He quickly assessed the severity of the injury, made a tourniquet with his handkerchief and a pencil, and applied it on his friend’s arm on the large vein near the shoulder. Grandpa held the tourniquet in place for nearly an hour until an ambulance arrived. The friend’s arm was later amputated, but he survived and lived until 1967.